Coatings applied to surfaces of consumer products, automotive interiors, and the like are often designed to have a soft touch or feel. It is also important that these coatings exhibit good chemical and mechanical resistance. Improving the chemical and mechanical resistance of soft touch coatings can be achieved by increasing the crosslink density and/or hardness of the coatings, such as by using a higher proportion of crosslinker and/or by employing binders having a higher hardness and/or a higher proportion of crosslinkable functional groups. However, improvement of the chemical and mechanical resistance by increasing the crosslink density and/or hardness of the coatings is often accompanied by a deterioration of the soft touch properties. As such, it can be difficult to obtain a soft touch coating that also exhibits good chemical and mechanical resistance.
Further, most soft touch coatings currently available are solvent-based. However, solvent-based coatings often release large amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the environment. Because of the environmental damage that can be caused from VOCs, there are various regulations that limit the use of solvent-based coatings. In contrast, water-based soft touch coatings are not limited by such regulations, and, therefore, can be used for a wider range of applications.